So, you’ve started your e-commerce store and invested your time, energy, and money into it.
And you expect to be making massive sales by now, but you’re NOT.
You keep asking yourself questions like, “What am I doing wrong?” “What should I not be doing?” “How can I make my store better to keep the dollars flowing?”
In this article, I’ll answer these questions and show you exactly how to go from making little or no sales to being sold out.
Your website should leave a good first impression
Studies have shown that it takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for a user to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they will stay or leave. You need to make those first few seconds count.
How do you do this?
You should make your web design simple and familiar. People have an idea of what an e-commerce website should look like. You might want to go for an innovative approach but you should rethink that and go for a less complex design.
This is a good example. It has a generic white background and not too many colors. It’s just something your customers won’t find too complicated and overwhelming.
Your website should be user-friendly and easy to navigate for customers to find the information they are looking for.
Also, avoid too many pop-ups; this can distract them and make them not even see what they came there for.
This leads us to our second tip.
Optimize your website for mobile usage.
Having a mobile-friendly website is non-negotiable in today’s world, where there is an increasing number of consumers browsing and shopping on their mobile devices.
Here are steps to follow for optimized mobile usage:
- Ensure that you create a website layout that is responsive and flexibly adapts to different screen sizes, resolutions, and devices.
You can check if your website looks as good on mobile devices as it does on desktop by using Lighthouse, a free Google mobile-friendly test tool. It also suggests what improvements you can make to the site.
- Optimize your loading page speed. This is very crucial because nobody likes to wait for a website to load, especially smartphone users who are just a click away from leaving your website and going back to social media or whatever app they were using.
- Simplify the buying process and make it stress-free by reducing the number of steps required for checkout.
You can implement features like one-click payment and saved payment information to speed up the process. Popular mobile payment gateways like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Paypal ensure speedy and secure payments directly from mobile wallets.
Remember to review and update your website regularly to keep it relevant because of the way user expectations and industry trends evolve.
Be present on social media
Social media should be your best friend.
Using social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok can help you build your brand, connect with your target audience, and drive sales.
All these can be achieved by creating shareable visual content relating to your product that will help you build brand awareness.
By being present on social media, you get to engage in real-time communication with your customers.
Through this engagement, you get to show a commitment to your customer’s satisfaction and make the overall customer experience better.
Collaborating with social media influencers will also increase your brand exposure and visibility, which will generate sales for you in the long run.
Another thing you can do is enable in-app shopping features on your social media platforms, where you have a large target audience.
By integrating this feature, customers can go from browsing content to buying from you.
Use high-quality images for your products
Human beings are visual creatures. If your customers like what they see, it is a step that keeps them engaged because their attention is captured.
Ensure that you use high-quality images that will almost make it seem like your customers are seeing your pictures physically.
Using high-quality images also shows your professionalism and gives your customers
trust in your business.
Investing in high-quality photography and imagery for your product can help by capturing the attention of your customers and inspiring them to make sales.
Prioritize Customer service
There is nothing like a fulfilled customer. The likelihood of a customer returning after experiencing good service is very high, which is why you need to make your customer service top-notch.
Actively listen to your customers’ concerns, preferences, suggestions, and reviews so you can make informed decisions regarding your products and meet their needs.
You should check out this article on the best ways to manage reviews to boost your sales.
You also need to invest in customer care training.
Make sure your customer care representatives are friendly and knowledgeable so they can answer product-related questions or give recommendations that will guide your customers through their buying process.
By doing this, you will improve the overall shopping experience for them.
Your customers need to know that they are valued. Engaging them in loyalty programs is one way to show it. A loyalty program can show how much you appreciate them, which can encourage a positive perception of your business.
Another thing you can do is reward customers for making repeated purchases with incentives such as special discounts that can increase customer value.
After doing all these things, don’t forget to keep up with your customers after their purchase, in case they have any issues and want to return a product. Globallyfulfill, an effective e-commerce fulfillment service, can help make returns easier.
Use Live chat support
Using live chat software can be a game-changer for your website.
Live chat can make it convenient for your customers to seek assistance anytime, anywhere. This convenience can give your customers the help they need without the hassle of business hours or geographical boundaries.
This way, they can make faster decisions because all the information they need is given to them. Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how you can add live chat to your website.
When you implement live chat on your website, the interaction between your business and the customer is more personalized. The customers get to be addressed by their names and their responses help tailor the customers’ further specific needs and preferences.
It makes your customers feel like they are in a real store and are getting their questions answered by a shop assistant.
One thing to note, though, when implementing your live chat is to place the button in a visible spot, especially for first-time users of your website. Remember what I said about making your website simple and leaving a good first impression?
Here is an example of what it should look like.
Offer free shipping
One of the reasons why shoppers don’t go through with their purchase is the shipping cost.
Research from Deloitte shows that 60% of customers will increase their purchases from a retailer that offers them free shipping.
I know you’re wondering how this would happen and how it would affect sales, after all, the shipping cost is meant to be borne by the customers. Don’t panic, I have some tips and strategies that you can use.
You can input the shipping cost of the particular product into the price of the product.
Another tip is to set a minimum order quantity that attracts free shipping. This way, you encourage customers to purchase more products.
Also, you can offer free shipping using limited-time promotions. For example, during periods like festive periods (Christmas, New Year) or Black Friday, when you know sales will be high.
Of course, you cannot offer free shipping in all instances because there are costs associated with it, but the benefits you will gain, such as increased sales and consumer loyalty, make it a good investment.
Leveraging Email marketing
Email marketing is one of the most successful ways to boost sales in e-commerce.
On your website or social media platform, put an option for customers to subscribe to your email list and offer them incentives like discounts, exclusive content, or a percentage of their shipping.
Building a list of subscribers who want to receive communications from your business is a starting point for successful email marketing.
After creating your list, the next thing you need to do is segment them into smaller groups based on the information given to you.
The segmentation can be based on demographics, gender, age, preference purchase history, etc. By segmenting your email list, you can send personalized, relevant, and engaging content to them.
Another tip is to set up email campaigns triggered by specific actions or events, such as welcome emails for first-timers, birthday discounts, and follow-ups for customers who made purchases.
When you use email marketing, you create a personal relationship with your audience, which helps you boost sales in the long run.
Apply SEO
When people search for things related to your business, you want to be at the forefront.
When someone searches for terms relating to your business on Google or Bing, you want your website to be on the first page.
This can only be done through search engine optimization.
You can optimize your business with relevant keywords or phrases by applying those keywords to your product description.
You can check out how to write SEO product descriptions here.
SEO helps you boost sales by increasing your visibility and driving organic traffic your way.
I know you want that.
Conclusion
As an online business owner, navigating your way in the e-commerce space and making sales might be difficult at first. Follow these tips and strategize to reach your full potential.
You can do it!
